Second Verse, Same As
by Mimic Teruyo
Summary: Centuries ago, when the world was a much different place, a certain common occurence on the banks of river Sanzu greatly resembled its modern form.


"Onozuka, this is beyond the pale! I simply cannot accept this sort of conduct from you any longer!"

Not even the cool mists of Sanzu River served to cool down Eiki's temper, usually dormant and well guarded, now that it had flared up to its full temper. The forbearance of the enma, famous across the Ministry, had reached its limit.

Her first impression of Onozuka had been positive enough. While the shinigami had become a ferrywoman following a demotion, her first action upon seeing Eiki had been a cheerful smile. She was honest and upbeat, and took her demotion in stride: she never complained about it, and more than once told her co-workers how much she enjoyed her new job and 'working at her own pace', smiling all the while.

However, Eiki had soon discovered that Onozuka was a slacker to the core, and that "her own pace" was glacial. Decade after decade, not a week went by without her finding Onozuka taking a nap on the shore of the Sanzu river, or idly chatting with sinful spirits instead of ferrying them across.

Lately, Onozuka had been even more impossible than usual. Eiki's scoldings had never had more than a temporary effect on her, but truth be told, she was too aggravated to care.

"I'm sorry, Lady Shiki," Onozuka muttered, looking at the ground. She was on her knees before Eiki, and based on her hunched shoulders expected a beating.

Eiki clutched the Rod of Remorse tightly. Instead of a physical beat-down, she went for an oral one. "How many times have I upbraided you on this during this month alone? How many thousands of hours of work have you lost sleeping on the job? How many souls have had to linger on for months more than necessary due to your indolence! For heaven's sake, Onozuka, they are waging war over at the mortal world! We all must do all we can to expedite our services, and yet here you are, lying flat on your back for the third time this week! You are selfishly holding everyone back, and do not even seem to care about all the inconvenience you cause to others. Have you no shame? Have you no work morale? Are you no better than those who indulge in the sin of sloth, never use what little time they have for work or meditation, and are brought to me bereft of all merit either physical or spiritual? Will you allow your soul to wither out of vanity? Get up and work!"

She paused to catch her breath, huffing, so single-mindedly focused on the laziness of her feckless underling she had forgotten to breathe. At least Onozuka hadn't fallen asleep during her lecture this time. Instead, she looked up at her, an uncharacteristically pensive look in her eyes.

"Well?" Eiki demanded. She crossed her arms, holding the Rod of Remorse as prominently as possible. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Onozuka sighed and bowed her head back down. "I'm sorry, Lady Shiki."

But Eiki's temper wasn't so easily placated, not now that she had reached her boiling point. However, she neither yelled not raised the rod for a strike. Her vexation had reached such heights where such actions would not be enough to calm her down.

She sighed deeply and uncrossed her arms, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What am I going to do with you, Onozuka?"

"What do you mean, Lady Shiki?"

"You must understand that your position is not solely in my hands. I may have been able to look through my fingers at certain aspects of your behaviour and lack of work morale when the number of spirits to be ferried remained relatively low and your work effort was adequate. Now that the riverbank is teeming with spirits, the lack of results from my jurisdiction has began to draw attention."

Onozuka knitted her brow, and drew up to her full height; or at least, to what was her full height on her knees. "Lady Shiki, I swear I didn't mean to cause you trouble! If they try to sack you, I'll go to them straight away and tell them it's really all my fault!"

She appeared so genuinely anxious Eiki couldn't help but soften her demeanour just a tad. "Do not fret, please. Neither of us is being fired right this instant. But Onozuka, you must understand," She held the Rod of Remorse over her lips. "There are limits to how much delay we can allow with the ferries. If you wish to keep working for the Ministry, you absolutely must shape up. If you cannot, we must let you go." Before Onozuka could respond, she continued: "Although, perhaps you would prefer that?"

Onozuka blinked. "What do you mean?"

Eiki sighed. "Well, if you no longer have any morale for this kind of work, perhaps you would prefer to quit? I cannot blame you if that is the case: it is, admittedly, a thankless task with little variety."

Onozuka smiled wanly. "There's quite a bit of variety if you talk to the spirits you ferry, Lady Shiki."

"Talking to the spirits is fine up to a point, but not when you purposefully slow down to hear the endings their tales. This is precisely what I meant, Onozuka. If you must find distractions during your work and consider it drudgery," Eiki's chest felt strangely heavy as she continued, "it would be for the best you find work elsewhere. If you find something you can do diligently, your karma will surely improve, whereas here, your current vocation only seems to hurt it."

Onozuka was silent for a while. When she finally spoke, it was in a quiet voice. "I'm gonna work harder."

"What did you say?"

"I'm gonna...I mean, I will work harder." Onozuka looked up with pain in her eyes. "I like this job, Lady Shiki, even if it doesn't always look like it. I'm not gonna let you down."

Eiki was speechless for a moment, then drew herself up. "Well, I did leave it up to you. I hope you are a woman of your words. However, if you truly wish to stay with the Ministry of Right and Wrong," Eiki couldn't help but smile a little, "I have no objections."

Onozuka smiled too, although with no teeth. "I never would have guessed you actually cared, Lady Shiki."

Eiki hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you've always yelled at me a lot, but I figured you were just angry in general and wanted to vent your spleen. I didn't think you were thinking about my karma."

Eiki sighed again. "Do not unduly concern yourself with that." It was nigh impossible not to worry about other people's karma, not when both it and the fate of the person carrying the sins was clearly visible to her. And when it came to people she saw regularly, well...

"No, but seriously. Thank you, Lady Shiki." Onozuka suddenly grinned. "Or can I call you Lady Eiki?"

Eiki stiffened. "I'm not sure that would be proper."

"It's fine! You can call me Komachi in turn, and yell at me whenever you need to."

Eiki peered at Onozuka carefully. The words were white, and there was no guile in her smile. Come to think of it, there was nothing in the strictures that forbade first-name basis between co-workers after a century of companionship.

"Very well." Eiki cleared her throat, and when her voice next rang out it was as clear as glass bells. "Komachi! Why aren't you working?"

Komachi scampered on her feet. "Oops! Sorry, Lady Eiki!"

"You had better meet today's quota, Komachi!"

"Aye aye, Lady Eiki!" Komachi saluted and threw her scythe on her shoulder. "I'm going to work really hard now, promise!"

She rushed to her boat. Eiki looked on, unable to keep a faint smile off her face. Komachi's sudden enthusiasm would be unlikely to last, but all the same, Eiki had a strangely good feeling about their conversation.

She turned around and walked towards Hell. Work awaited there, too.


End file.
